The cyber security landscape has changed drastically in the past couple of years. The number and nature of attacks have changed and new targets emerged for cybercriminals. Cyber security tools, solutions, and technologies have evolved as attacks. The Covid-19 pandemic posed new challenges for organizations, governments, and institutions as the way of operation changed.
The adoption of remote working culture increased the number of threats and raised the need to focus more on the security of data and information. Data breach and ransomware attack incidents soared as many organizations were not prepared for the situation. This led to the implementation of strict security measures and the organizations need to continue to take stringent measures to ensure data safety. Even businesses in the healthcare industry need to ensure the safety of data. They need to check out what is healthcare cybersecurity and how they can implement it in their business for safety.
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The demand for sophisticated and innovative cybersecurity solutions is expected to increase in the coming years. According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global cyber security market is expected to reach $304.91 billion by 2027.
Following are the trends to look forward to in the coming year.
1. Ransomware Attacks
There has been a considerable increase in ransomware attacks in 2021 as compared to 2020. The adoption of work from home and remote working culture made the organization network vulnerable to malware attacks. Cybercriminals have been inserting malware files into devices of specific organizations and decrypting them. This makes those files unable to run or open. In exchange for encryption, these criminals ask for a hefty ransom. This made IT and security teams of organizations employ multi-layered security and ensure there are no vulnerabilities and cracks through which cybercriminals can enter and take unfair advantage.
In addition, they have been performing upgrades of software and implementing strict security policies. There are patches released and advanced security tools are employed. As attacks have been growing in complexity and size, the networks need to be protected and vulnerabilities need to be detected and eliminated.
2. Talent crunch and hiring challenges
There is a huge supply-demand talent gap existing in the cyber security industry. Though various initiatives have been taken by governments and universities to train their own employees and build a new cyber force, the gap would continue to exist in the coming year. The threat landscape is growing at a faster rate in comparison to the emergence of talent to ward off threats. There needs to be a considerable pace at which new initiatives to build a skilled workforce. In addition to this, most organizations do not possess the necessary knowledge and resources to hire a cyber-security staff or team.
Relying on software products is not enough as hackers and attackers have been utilizing advanced technologies and techniques to launch more sophisticated attacks than before. Though some organizations manage to get the staff on board, there is a lack of necessary knowledge or skill to eliminate the threats posed by attackers. However, there will be more training initiatives and skill upgrade programs conducted by organizations and government authorities. Moreover, the trend of availing assistance of third-party specialists and experts will take shape in an effort to fill the gap and ensure the security of assets.
3. Increased threat to the healthcare industry
The burden on the healthcare system increased considerably with the Covid-19 pandemic. Hospitals were stuffed with patients and staff from other departments shifted to Covid wards. Moreover, non-emergency surgeries were postponed and the trend of telemedicine arrived. This let doctors and healthcare professionals consult and track the health conditions of patients remotely.
However, most of the healthcare facilities were not prepared for the sudden increase in burden, and telemedicine systems were not properly secured. Many healthcare facilities had vulnerabilities and cracks in their systems and cybercriminals took advantage by attacking them and carrying out data breaches. The remote consultation also led to cyber security challenges such as the safety of patient data and the prevention of record alterations. Many hospitals and healthcare facilities were late in deploying necessary cyber security infrastructure.
As the incidents of data breaches increased in the past couple of years, the trend is estimated to continue in 2022. If healthcare facilities do not increase investments in cyber security, there will be unfortunate incidents taking place, and the consequent losses in terms of finance and credibility will occur.
4. Supply chain to become a new target
The supply chain is one of the rapidly emerging fields as the trend of online shopping grew and organizations began implementation of streamlined tracking and monitoring processes. Cyber-attacks on supply chain applications and systems are in infancy. However, the trend is expected to mature in 2022. As third-party solutions are employed in maintaining supply chain operations, cybercriminals will attack the systems to introduce chaos.
Moreover, applications and sensors used to track conditions such as temperature, humidity, and others in large containers to ensure product safety will become targets. Organizations need to prepare incident response plans as they deploy their in-house or third-party supply chain solutions. Deploying advanced software tools and the necessary expertise to prevent and eliminate threats will ensure the proper streamlined operations of the supply chain.
Conclusion
The threat landscape is growing and cyber security measures need to grow as well. With the emergence of ransomware attacks, threats to the healthcare industry, talent crunch, and supply chain targeting, the cyber security market players will strive to launch new tools and techniques to ensure efficient operations, data safety, and preparedness to counter further attacks.
Author bio –
Pratik Kirve is writer, blogger, and sport enthusiast. He holds a bachelor degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and currently working as a Team Lead – Content Writing at Allied Market Research. He has avid interest in writing news articles across different verticals. When he is not following updates and trends, he spends his time reading, writing poetry, and playing football. He can be reached at pratik.kirve@alliedmarketresearch.net
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/pratik-kirve-8213b284/
